Reynolds: Inadvertent error
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has officially corrected the House of Commons record for describing himself as a solicitor, amid continuing jabs from the Conservatives.
Last month, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said it had reopened its investigation into Mr Reynolds after receiving “further information”.
It emerged that he has on occasion described himself as a solicitor, including in a speech in Parliament in 2014, when in fact he never qualified, having left during his training contract at Addleshaw Goddard to campaign for election in 2010.
Mr Reynolds apologised for referring to himself as a solicitor but said it was not “a huge deal”.
Making a point of order in the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Reynolds said: “I should have made it clear that, specifically, that was a reference to being at the time a trainee solicitor.
“This was an inadvertent error and, although the speech was over a decade ago, as it has been brought to my attention, I would like to formally correct the record.”
Responding on X, shadow Lord Chancellor Robert Jenrick – who has led the charge against Mr Reynolds – wrote: “Reynolds should apologise for the many other instances, over 10 years, where he lied about his qualifications. As a Director of Public Prosecutions, Starmer knows Reynolds broke the law. Unless Starmer sacks him, it’ll be another case of two-tier justice under Two-Tier Keir.”
In justice questions earlier in the week, while asking a question about Sentencing Council guidelines, Mr Jenrick said: “As a lawyer herself, I would have thought that the justice secretary would know the difference between the last set of guidance and the new one. I say ‘as a lawyer’, but in this cabinet we never really know who is a real lawyer and who is just pretending to be one.”
Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood replied: “The whole house can see that the only pretence at a job is the one that the shadow Lord Chancellor is making, because he is pretending to be the leader of the opposition. We all know exactly what he is about.”
Conservative MP Blake Stephenson asked what the government was doing “to crack down on unqualified people representing themselves as solicitors”.
Minister Sarah Sackman said: “As the honourable member well knows, the solicitors’ profession is highly regulated. We have the Solicitors Regulation Authority, which itself is regulated by the Legal Services Board.
“All our professionals, whether they are practising in criminal or civil law, are highly respected and highly regulated, and we are indebted to them.”
There has been no news yet of Reform UK making good on its pledge to bring a private prosecution against Mr Reynolds.
